Club
History (p1)

The
First World War is well over and people have great expectations
of a better life for the victors.

Glasgow
was a densely packed city warmed by dirty coal fires.

Its
surroundings were largely pastoral and people wishing to escape
from the grime of the city started to move into homes being
built in the greener areas. This expansion out of the city
moved through what are now Merrylee and Giffnock and to a
lesser degree Whitecraigs and Newton Mearns.

Newcomers
to the area also desired to live in these newer properties.

A
group of young men from this new populace for their own reasons
decided to set up a Rugby Club to serve the area. Many would
not be eligible to play for the Schools 'Former Pupils' sides.
Some would rather not do so, given a choice. Some would not
wish to journey across the city to train and play.

The Club they founded was WHITECRAIGS.

The
use was obtained of ground at Deaconsbank, which was a field
amongst other fields. This use was shared initially with a
local Hockey club. Several fixtures were arranged with local
clubs, many of who have either disappeared or been adsorbed
into mergers with other clubs and lost their identity.

The
Club attracted some more than useful players but was never
powerful enough to compete with the long existing Clubs with
their steady supply of young players every year.

The
Club however gained for itself a reputation for making visitors
welcome, being friendly and welcoming to incomers and opponents
alike. (This warmth in the early days was not apparent to
the players who if they required to remove the day's clinging
mud at the end of the game were required to use the stream
running between the two pitches.)